


Tomorrow Can Wait

by MoonlitMusings, type_here



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Angst, M/M, canon-typical not talking about feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 12:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10594353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlitMusings/pseuds/MoonlitMusings, https://archiveofourown.org/users/type_here/pseuds/type_here
Summary: Juno and Peter go the to hospital after escaping the tomb in Final Resting Place.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So, type_here and I wrote this ages ago, and then completely forgot about it until I saw it again today, and I figured hey, better late than never.

Peter spent the entire drive to the hospital trying not to panic. The small interior of the car reeked of blood. Even with the Ruby 7 dashing through the emptiness of the desert, it was nowhere near fast enough for him.

Juno had insisted they go to the hospital in Hyperion City, even though Olympus Mons was closer. At least, he had before he passed out. He’d been in and out of consciousness the entire drive, the continuing blood loss visibly weakening him by the second. 

_Not much further now,_ Peter thought to himself. _Just keep it together. You’ll get to the hospital and he’ll be fine. Everything will be fine._ He glanced over and saw Juno’s eyes were closed once again. “Juno! Juno, please, you need to keep your eyes open. You need to stay awake for me. We’re almost there. Just hold on a little longer.” 

Juno slowly opened his eye, and Peter took a deep breath. A few minutes later they screeched into the parking lot. Peter jumped out and ran to the passenger side, throwing open Juno’s door and reaching in to unbuckle his seatbelt. “Juno? Juno, I can’t carry you, you’re going to need to help me.” Juno nodded slowly and started to get up. Peter supported him as he did, positioning one of Juno’s arms around his shoulders, and wrapping one of his own arms around Juno’s waist. 

_We’ll be fine. Everything will be fine. We have to be fine. Juno has to be fine._ The thoughts kept circling in Peter's mind; a steady stream of self-reassurance to keep him from breaking down.

They managed to get through the front door of the ER, Juno leaning heavily against Peter, and halfway into the waiting room before Juno collapsed completely. “Juno!” Peter managed not to drop him, but just barely, lowering him gently to the floor. “Hello?! We need some help here!” A couple nurses rushed over, and one motioned to a third one nearby, who ran off.

“What happened to him?”

“We were attacked and had to fight the person off. He, there’s also something wrong with his eye. A... growth, of some kind. It won’t stop bleeding,” Peter said, his voice wavering, the adrenaline keeping him going starting to drop now that they’d reached safety.

The nurse nodded, and the one who rushed off came back in with a gurney and a doctor. They lifted Juno off the floor and onto the gurney, and started wheeling him into the hallway.  
Peter went to follow, there was no way in hell he was leaving Juno alone, but one of the nurses tried to stop him.

“I’m sorry, sir, I’m going to need you to wait here.”

“Absolutely not. I need to stay with him.”

“Sir-”

“ _I’m not leaving him,_ ” Peter said. His tone of voice and the look on his face offered no room for argument.

“...Fine. But you’ll need to stay out of the way.”

“Of course.” The went back over to the gurney and Juno was rushed into a room. He woke up as he was being checked over.

“Peter?”

“Juno! Juno, I’m right here, darling, it’s alright. You’re going to be alright.” He brushed his hand against Juno’s, and Juno grabbed his, squeezing it before letting go. 

Soon one of the doctors turned to Peter.

“We’re going to have to take him into surgery to figure out what’s going on with his eye. We’ll do our best to save it, but I can’t make any guarantees.”

“Do whatever you have to, as long as you keep him alive.”

“I’m afraid you won’t be able to come into surgery with him.” Peter was about to protest, but realized he wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“Alright.”

“You should get yourself patched up in the meantime.” It wasn’t until this point that Peter had realized how much everything hurt.

“You’re... you’re probably right. Yes.” Once he became aware of the pain, it began washing over him, along with a fatigue that went all the way down to his bones.

“Go ahead and stay in here. We’ll get someone else in to patch you up.”

“Can you... is there any way the surgeon could, send someone to let me know how things are going?” As exhausted as he was, he couldn't help but worry about his dear detective. He needed to know Juno was alright.

“...I’ll try to do what I can. But again, I can’t make any guarantees.” Peter nodded.

“I understand.” He hated seeing them wheel Juno away, but he knew things were out of his hands at that point. He just had to hope.

It took a while before Peter got any news. Hours felt like days as another nurse patched him up. All his thoughts were on Juno. How was he doing? Would he be alright? Was there any permanent damage? He was relieved when he got news that he was out of surgery, and even more so when they finally let him into the detective's room.

He started to feel better seeing Juno there, worse for wear, but alive. All of the bandages and tubing was a bit worrying, but the steady beep of his heart monitor and the gentle rise and fall of his chest were beyond comforting.

The next time Juno woke up, he was laying on a bed, with a bandaged Peter petting his hair. He made a small noise at the sensation, and nuzzled into it, opening his eyes. Or, eye? One of them was covered with something. Peter looked at him with a smile that could only be described as relieved.

“Hello there, beautiful. Glad to see you awake.”

“How long have I been out?” Juno asked. Judging by the dryness of his throat and raspiness of his voice, it had to have been a pretty long time.

“A while. You passed out once we got into the waiting room, and they had to put you under for surgery.”

“Surgery?”

“Yes, they... your eye was...” The expression on Peter’s face hurt to look at.

“My eye?” Juno reached up and felt the bandage and realized it didn’t feel quite right. It felt like it wasn’t resting over anything. “Did I...”

“They did everything they could to save it, Juno, but... I’m sorry.” Juno’s eye was gone. He tried to process that information. He knew he should feel upset. Should feel angry or panicked or sad or _something,_ but he just felt numb. 

“Juno?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. Yeah, it’s uh, it’s alright. That’s what I get for swallowing mysterious pills, I guess.”

“Aren’t you... upset?”

“I... guess, yeah?”

“...Darling I think you may be in shock.” 

Juno blinked. “Maybe. I don’t know. I just... at least we’re both alive, right?” At least Peter was alive. That was the important thing. Juno couldn’t help but think that an eye was a small price to pay for that. “How, uh, how long did they say they want us to stay here?”

“They said I’m free to go, actually, but they want to keep you under observation for a couple days, at least.”

“Oh.” Juno looked down. “Does... does that mean you’re going?”

“Of course not!” Peter replied. Juno looked up to see a mix of confusion, concern, and hurt on his face. “I’m not going anywhere, Juno.” 

Juno looked away again, this time feeling ashamed for doubting Peter. “Sorry. I just...” 

Peter took his hand. “I know, love. It’s alright.” 

Juno sighed and looked at his IV line, frowning. “... A couple days, you said?”

“That’s what they told me.”

Juno didn’t want to be there for a couple days. He really didn’t like hospitals. He always felt trapped in them, strangers always fussing over him and telling him what to do. He just wanted to go home. “Think you could get me out of here before then?”

“I can. Though if you’re asking me to now, the answer is no. You need more rest, first.”

“I’m fine.”

“Oh, really? Sit up.” Juno pushed himself up, trying to ignore the pain it caused. As soon as he was up, though, he quickly got light headed and plopped back onto the pillows. Peter raised an eyebrow. “I rest my case. Just wait, Juno. Rest. I promise that as soon as you’ve recovered more we’ll go.”

Juno tried several times over the next hour to convince Peter that he was ready to leave. But each time he tried to sit up, he would end up back down within seconds. He only stopped when Peter threatened to call in a doctor to sedate him. Soon after that, Juno fell asleep. 

Peter stayed there, watching him, thinking. Eventually he started to wonder if he should have had the doctors give Juno something. He was asleep, yes, but it didn’t seem particularly restful. Juno shifted and let out a groan, his eye blinking open slowly. 

“Juno?”

“Yeah?” Juno fought to hold back a pained whine as he spoke.

“Would you like me to ask the doctor to give you more pain medicine?”

Juno nodded, and Peter went and found a nurse. Juno was given more meds, and fell into a much less fitful sleep. 

Peter felt guilty. Here Juno was, in pain, having lost an eye, having almost died, all because he’d dragged him along on this crazy Martian artifact scheme. Then again, if someone else had gotten hired instead of him, he wouldn’t have been around to protect Juno, who presumably would have still gotten hired for the Kanegawa case. 

He wondered if he and Juno would have ever met if not for his stealing that mask. He almost wanted to think they would. He’d never been one to believe in fate or destiny, but he was a romantic, and it almost felt like they were drawn together, like they were meant to meet, somehow. The Thief and The Detective. It was rather poetic, really. A bit cliched, even. Like they were living some old romance movie. The thought almost made him a little hopeful. After all, what’s a cliched love story without a happy ending? 

Still, deep down, he had a sneaking suspicion things wouldn’t go that way. He knew he couldn’t hold Juno to anything he said in the heat of the moment, about to die for all he knew. As much as he liked to imagine the two of them riding off into the metaphorical sunset together, he had a sinking feeling that Juno wouldn’t be coming with him. Not when he had just lost an eye. Not when he still didn’t trust that Peter wouldn’t leave him. 

Still, part of him hoped, and that part was determined to convince Juno of his devotion; to show how much he cared with every word, every touch.

Peter reached down and gently brushed a hand against Juno’s cheek. Juno unconsciously leaned into the touch, and Peter’s heart ached. 

He wanted to spend time with him, just the two of them. Not as Rex, or Duke, or anyone else, and not while being held captive by a madwoman. No cases, no heists, no injuries, just the two of them, existing together. Talking, and touching, and learning each other, at a time when their lives weren’t in danger. 

It hit him then, suddenly, that he’d genuinely fallen in love. He wanted to spend every day with the person lying on the bed in front of him. He knew it then, with complete certainty, and it was a beautiful feeling. A feeling which soon faded into a beautiful heartbreak. 

He ran a hand through Juno’s hair. He wanted to stay, but he knew he couldn’t. His lifestyle and wanderlust wouldn't allow it. He had to go, and Juno would likely stay. He wondered for a moment if they might work out an arrangement of sorts, where he came back from time to time. Would Juno want that? Would he be content with him coming to Mars between heists, staying in a hotel, or better yet, Juno’s apartment?

No.

Juno deserved better than that. He deserved someone who could be there with him full-time. Someone who could dress each wound with a bandage and a kiss. Someone who could hold him every night and be there every morning when he woke up. He deserved all of the things that Peter wanted to give him, but couldn’t. 

No.

He refused to do that to him. He would ask Juno again if he wanted to go with him, and if he said no, Peter would leave, and avoid coming back to Mars as much as possible. 

In the meantime, he would be grateful for every moment he got.

In the meantime, they had this. 

While it was broken, and it probably wouldn't last, it was wonderful nonetheless. They had fingers through hair, and Juno's finally steady breathing, and Peter's knowledge of his love for Juno settling around him like a blanket. They had passion and trust and desperate confessions behind them, and the steadiness of their heart beats and the warmth of their tangled fingers in that moment. 

For the next few hours, for the next day or two if he was lucky, he could let that be enough. 

He wanted to give this man the world, the galaxy, every wonderful and beautiful thing he could find in this universe, and the next, if he found a way to manage that. But if this was it, he could let that be enough.


End file.
